'Winnie the Pooh'

In this film publicity image released by Disney, animated characters from left, Rabbit, Kanga, Roo, Piglet, Owl, Winnie the Pooh, Christopher Robin are shown in a scene from "Winnie the Pooh." (AP Photo/Disney Enterprises, Inc.) By Jennifer Thomas

PHOENIX – What the final chapter of the Harry Potter saga is expected to the biggest movie of the weekend – possibly of all time – there’s another movie targeting young audiences, very young audiences, in theaters now.

For the first time in years, “Winnie the Pooh” is from the book to the big screen before heading to your house on DVD.

One of this big reasons we haven’t seen Pooh on the big screen for so long is the pace. The cartoon is too slow for kids of the fast-moving MTV generation and beyond.

“As we did iteration after iteration of the story, we started realizing … there’s room to quicken the pace up just a little bit, there’s room to make things funnier, a little bit sharper gags than you might have seen in the ‘60s,” said Don Hall, one of the two directors. “A few months ago, we went back and looked at one of our first versions of the movie and we were shocked at how snail’s pace [it was]. It wasn’t until then that we realized how much we did quicken up the pace.”

It’s still not as fast-paced as some of today’s cartoons. “For Winnie the Pooh, it’s definitely a bit speedier,” Hall said. Stephen Anderson, the other director, said there’s also more slapstick and physical humor.

Tommy Kenny is the voice of Rabbit. He’s probably best known as the voice of SpongeBob SquarePants.

Jim Cummings gave his voice to both Winnie the Pooh and Tigger. Those who have seen the movie adore it.